


"Miraculous" Is a Common Word

by cloudninedreamer



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: As in most characters have a disability, Disability AU, F/M, Gen, going through every episode, it's gonna be long
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-21
Updated: 2016-04-02
Packaged: 2018-05-28 02:38:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6311908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cloudninedreamer/pseuds/cloudninedreamer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marinette Dupain-Cheng has a lot on her plate, having to juggle being a middle-school student, an amateur fashion designer, and the semi-famous super-heroine Ladybug. Add her responsibilities with her crush on model Adrien Agreste and dealing with her flirtatious partner Chat Noir, her life gets pretty interesting and exhausting. And I mentioned her disability, right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Calm Before the Storm

“I’m late!” Marinette practically yelled, rushing her way through the waiting room and hurrying through the doors of the clinic. She paused briefly to allow a man through, leaning heavily on his cane and clearly grateful for the help, before she was on her way. Forward. If she focused on her forward momentum, she probably wouldn’t fall as easily. You know. Probably.

She was supposed to babysitting now at her home a few minutes away from the clinic. It wasn’t her therapist’s fault, really. Marinette knew that. But it could still be a bit of a bother; hopefully Mme Chamack wouldn’t be left waiting too long.

As she rounded the corner, she saw Mme Chamack and Manon standing outside the bakery, looking slightly anxious. But as Marinette approached them, Mme Chamack visibly relaxed.

“Hi,” Marinette panted. Ow, maybe running the whole way wasn’t the best idea. “Sorry I’m late.”

“Oh, it’s no trouble,” Mme Chamack replied. “I just have to hurry on and go. Big kisses, Manon.”

A quick hug and kiss later, Mme Chamack was off, leaving Marinette to care for the little girl still there.

Manon looked up at Marinette. “Can we watch TV?”

And that’s how Marinette soon found herself sitting in front of the television, watching a show she honestly didn’t care about. Something about a competition for a new weather girl. But Manon was intrigued by it, and it kept her busy, so Marinette had to be at least slightly grateful.

And it worked for about twenty minutes.

After those twenty minutes were up, Manon had spotted one of Marinette’s unfinished works and wanted to play with it, snatching it up just before Marinette noticed and then running off with it.

“Manon! Give that back!” How on earth was she supposed to catch Manon? Manon was young, with tons of energy, and no atrophy or weakness of any kind.

“But I wanna be a fashion designer too!”

Marinette then ran face-first into the couch, basically validating her thoughts. With an annoyed sigh, she grabbed the back of the couch with her right hand and heaved herself to a semi-standing position. Standing up fully and letting go of the couch, Marinette ignored the pain from the cushions’ texture and continued her chase.

“Manon, it’s not finished. You’re going to ruin it,” she protested. Manon ran underneath the nearby table, leaving Marinette to have to go around else she maybe not be able to stand again, she glanced around hurriedly to where the little girl had gone.

“I’m gonna vote for Mireille! She’s the best!” Marinette whirled to where the TV was. Manon was watching it again. Right. The competition. Well, at least she’d calmed down a bit… wait a minute.

“Hey! My phone!” Marinette quickly swiped it from Manon’s hands, only for Manon to run off again. Marinette held the bridge of her nose with a sigh. “Why did I agree to do this again?” She groaned.

And at that moment, Tikki, from her hiding place in Marinette’s jacket, peeked out.

“Tikki!” Marinette hissed, glancing around and hoping Manon was a ways away. “Stay hidden.”

“Don’t worry,” Tikki said. (Whether this was in response to Marinette or just in general was up for debate.) “If you can handle Manon for a day, then any villain here on out will be a piece of cake.”

Marinette was preparing to respond. (“Yes, but do you see how Manon gets away from me so easily? The _couch cushions_ hurt. I’m sure I’m doing _amazing_ at this hero stuff if _this_ is troublesome.) Before she could, though, the doorbell rang and Tikki ducked away.

Marinette hurried as fast as she dared to the door, nearly falling into said door, but barely managed to right herself and open it. As the visitor was revealed, Marinette couldn’t help a slightly shocked, “Alya?”

It was obviously her; her familiar shirt was always worn; well, sort of. Alya loved the fabric (“Good for texture-stimming,” she’d said,) so she had about ten of the same shirt. Even as Marinette had been opening the door, Alya had been running her fingers along the hem.

Alya let go of the shirt with a huge grin. “Hey, I got a huge scoop for you,” she said, quickly unlocking her phone. “Guess who’s on a photoshoot at the park!” Alya shoved the phone practically in Marinette’s face, but Marinette could easily make out a familiar figure posing for a camera also in Alya’s shot.

 With a gasp, Marinette took the phone, flipping it so she could hold it comfortably in just her right hand. “Now?” She asked. “A-Adrien’s in the park right now?”

Alya nodded, still smiling, but had returned to stimming. “As we speak.”

“Oh my gosh… What am I going to say to him?”

“Oh… the usual. I… bleh… bluh… Come on, Mari. _I_ can talk to people easier than you.”

“Oh, stop it.” Marinette said, lightly shoving Alya before her smile dropped. “But you’re right. Maybe it’s not even worth it.”

Alya sighed, stepping in. “Not this again, Mari.”

“I can’t help it. He’s a model and I’m… well…” She held up her left hand in an attempted wave, but easily found that almost impossible and dropped it.

Alya placed a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “Mari, seriously. You can’t let _that_ get the better of you. Adrien wouldn’t say no because of it. The kid learned sign language in a matter of months for Nino. He’s not going to discriminate.”

“Well…”

“Um…” The two girls looked down to see Manon peeking out from between Marinette’s legs. “Who’s she?”

“Whoops! I forgot about this little detail.”

“And who’s _she_?” Alya asked.

“This is Manon. One of my mom’s friend’s daughters. I’m watching her this afternoon… oh.”

“Mari—”

“Well, since I’m watching her, I guess that means I can’t go out.”

“No way, Marinette. You’ve been crushing on Adrien forever; you should _do_ something about it. Look, I’ll keep an eye on your little detail.”

“But I can’t do that to you. She’s… an absolute angel—” And suddenly there was a large crash from the kitchen. Marinette squawked and ran over, barely missing Manon and chasing the child around the living room, crashing into the couch, and almost tripped over an abandoned pan before finally catching Manon and returning to Alya.

“You’re just a pushover, Marinette,” Alya said. Marinette looked up at her, unamused, and lifted her left hand again. “And that. But seriously, I babysit my sisters all the time, so I’m an expert at dealing with angels.”

Manon looked as unamused as Marinette was. “Who are you, anyway?”

Alya knelt down so she was at Manon’s eye level. “I'm a mythical unicorn from the world of Reespa, disguised as a totally fabulous human girl,” She said, clearly having Manon entranced. “I grant magical wishes, but only to little monkeys who behave!”

Manon giggled. “No you’re not.” Then a brief look of curiosity. “Are you?”

Alya swept Manon off of the ground, depositing her on Marinette’s shoulders. “Okay! Let’s all go to the park!”

Manon cheered as well, so Marinette grinned too, swallowing her nervousness, but saying, “Alya, you should take Manon. I don’t trust my balance.” So a quick swap leaving Manon on Alya’s shoulders and they were off.

Marinette’s concern was well-founded. She almost tripped three times and actually fell once.

* * *

Elsewhere, pretty far away from where the park was, the competition Manon had been so enraptured by (for twenty minutes) was wrapping up. The votes had been cast and counted and now the contestants awaited the results eagerly.

Aurore and Mireille, the two contestants, each took a deep breath in preparation as a nearby screen showed the tally…

And Aurore’s heart broke when she saw that her competitor had hundreds of thousands more votes than her.

She could barely hear the announcer say something probably to do with her defeat over the sound of her own disappointment, sadness, anger. _Need to go._ And she hurried off. She might’ve looked like a sore loser. Oh well. She _needed_ to get out before she blew up or burst into tears.

But elsewhere in Paris, a masked man with dark intentions sensed the turmoil in her heart and sent his “gift” after her.

She tried to breathe through her almost-sobs, trying to resolve the anger. _She won. Fairly._ But still she was thinking. _I should’ve won. Me._ And then the man’s gift reached her, disappearing into her carried parasol and taking over her mind, filling it with rage.

* * *

And there was Adrien, posing and smiling and looking altogether  _perfect._ Marinette felt her knees grow weak, and she leaned against the tree she was hiding behind to maintain her balance. “Okay,” she finally said to Alya. “We’re going to stroll over there like we just happened to be passing by.”

“And then?” Alya asked.

She probably shouldn’t have. “Then?” Marinette sighed, eyes aglow. “I'll invite him out for a fruit smoothie at the end of the photo shoot! Then, we'll get married! Live happily ever after in a beautiful house and have two kids? No, three. And a dog! Maybe a cat? Nah, forget the cat. A hamster! I love hamsters!”

Alya tapped Marinette on the shoulder. “You’re rambling as if he’s a special interest,” she said jokingly. “Let’s just focus on trying to get you that smoothie.”

Marinette blushed and started putting her plan into action. Which involved trying to walk as “normal” as possible and therefore attempting to disguise her limp. Which then lead to her walk looking very robotic.

“Uh, Marinette,” whispered Alya, “we couldn’t be more invisible. Maybe if you toned down the walk.”

“Uh…” But before Marinette could do anything, Adrien looked over. Marinette offered a wave, blushing, which Adrien reciprocated before having to return his attention to the camera.

“Did you see that, he waved at me!” Marinette said excitedly.

“We _are_ in the same class,” Alya pointed out. “But see, he doesn’t care about… your… Mari, you can put your hand down,” she said, lowering Marinette’s hand for her.

* * *

Mireille couldn’t be happier. She won. She’d done it. She stepped into the elevator to head up for her follow-up interview. Only for the elevator to stop a few floors early.

The doors opened and standing there was a girl with pale white skin, black around her eyes, a dark purple dress, and was holding a parasol the same color. The girl laughed.

“I’m Stormy Weather. The only weather girl to get the forecast always right. And it would seem there will be a cold front. Right. Now!” She lifted her parasol and a beam shot from the tip. Icy magic flew out, encasing the entrance to the elevator, blocking Mireille inside. With another laugh, Stormy Weather was gone, off to make her grand entrance.

Mireille was left to pound at the ice, trying to ignore the biting cold against her bare hands. “Help!” She screamed hopelessly. “Help me!”

* * *

Unfortunately for Marinette, Manon was quite easily bored of the goings-on of the photoshoot, even if Marinette herself was entranced. Manon sat on the ground by Marinette’s feet, looking around the park for something, anything, to do. And she then noticed a nearby balloon salesman.

“Marinette, I want a balloon with Mireille on it! Please! Please!” She said, tugging on Marinette’s hand and making a bit of a scene.

The photographer nearby called over. “I need silence!” He snapped.

Alya attempted to defuse the situation. “C’mon, kid. I’ll go get you that balloon.”

“No! I wanna go with Marinette!” Manon yelled.

Marinette looked over at the glaring face of the photographer and said, “I’ve got it. I _am_ looking out for her.” She pried Manon from her leg, and started leading her to the balloons.

But of course Manon didn’t want _just_ a balloon. “I wanna go on the carousel!” She yelled, trying to drag Marinette along.

Marinette pulled her hand from Manon’s to prevent a fall, protesting. “No, wait! I’ve gotta get back to Adrien.”

“But you promised you’d look after me,” Manon pouted. “You aren’t going to break your promise?”

Marinette groaned, knowing what was coming. “Not the baby-doll eyes,” she said. “You know I can’t resist—” And then Manon unleashed her baby-doll eyes. Marinette broke easily. “Okay—”

And then Manon was dragging Marinette along. Marinette fell over when they reached the carousel.

The photographer however was having difficulty getting what he wanted. “Ugh, we need more energy!” He sighed, thinking. “More romance! We need...a girl!”

He turned over to where Alya was sitting, who’d just taken a bite of an apple and grimaced. “You!” He said. “I need an extra!”

“Me?” Alya asked.

“To pose with Mr Adrien,” the photographer explained. Then Alya’s eyes lit up.

“Oh! You don’t want me!” Alya exclaimed, probably too loud, but she didn’t care. “I…I think I’m having an allergic reaction to this apple.” She then stuck her tongue out, feigning it as best she could. “I know just the person you need! Hold that thought!” And she ran off to the carousel, spitting out the apple chunk on her way. Eh, an allergic reaction wasn’t _too_ far from the truth. Looks like today her texture aversion was against apples.

She sprinted towards the carousel, where Marinette was helping Manon onto a unicorn. Catching her breath, Alya said, “They need an extra to pose with Adrien.”

“Really? But… me?” She bit her lip nervously.

“Yes, you! Go! And I’ll watch your little angel.”

“No way! Marinette’s my babysitter,” Manon said, crossing her arms.

Alya climbed on the unicorn behind Manon, waving Marinette on. “Trust me.” Then she said, “Unicorns unite! Let's go to Reespa and find us some sad little village kids and grant those wishes! Yee-haw!”

Manon seemed to get caught up in Alya’s make-believe. “Yee-haw!” She yelled as well. Marinette smiled at her friend’s work, and started running off to join Adrien. But she didn’t get far before she heard screams.

Stormy Weather blasted a chilled wind at the civilians in the park, directing said wind to wrap around the carousel, covering the whole thing with ice and turning the temperature so cold Manon’s balloon deflated and dropped to the ground.

Marinette looked around for a suitable hiding spot, running halfway across the park to reach it, and opened her purse, where Tikki was hiding. “Time to transform,” she said as Tikki zipped out.

With one last glance to make sure the area was clear, Marinette called, “Tikki! Transform me!” And as Tikki flew into her earrings, she felt the transformation flow over her, changing her clothes, disguising her identity, making her stronger. She stretched, rolling her neck as she prepared to run back to the carousel, save her friend and her charge.

She fell after taking three steps.

* * *

Adrien took notice of the chaos just after Marinette did. As most people ran for shelter, he ran for where he’d left his bag and opened it. Only to find it empty. “Plagg?” He called out.

“I’m not here,” a lazy voice answered. “I’m sleeping.”

But all it took was a wedge of cheese for the cat-like kwami to fly out from his hiding place. “For your information,” he tried to amend, “I _can_ smell camembert in my sleep. Only one of my many talents.”

“That’s great,” Adrien said, “but there’s no time. Plagg! Transform me!”

Plagg was sucked into Adrien’s ring, and he was transformed to his alter ego. Now all he needed to do was find his partner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't find a proper way to spell it out in-fic, but Marinette has semi parietal cerebral palsy and Alya is autistic. That's all. Thanks.


	2. Stormy Weather

Ladybug ran out from her hiding place back to the carousel. “Why did I leave Manon?” She asked herself, almost stumbling on the way, but managing to keep upright. “I shouldn’t have done that.” But she took a breath, calming herself. Manon was with Alya. In good hands.

She reached the carousel and called to Alya and Manon, “I’ll get you out of there!” And threw her yoyo, wrapping it around the ice prison. If there was one thing she was grateful for about being a baker’s daughter at that moment, it was learning tricks such as wire-cutting.

She prepared to do just that to the ice, but there wasn’t enough friction and the yoyo wire slipped right over the top and the yoyo landed right on Ladybug’s head, knocking her over.

She got up as quickly as she could. (A difficult feat using only her right arm and leg, but she didn’t want to arouse suspicion in Alya.) “Great,” she sighed. “Time for Plan B.” She put her yoyo away and walked to the edge of the ice dome, where Alya and Manon stood.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

“Where’s Marinette?” Manon asked, looking around.

Ladybug squatted to her eye level. “She hasn’t forgotten you, Manon.”

“How do you know my name?” Manon gasped, eyes wide.

Whoops. “Uh… Marinette told me! She’ll be right back.” After a thumbs-up from Alya, Ladybug ran off in search of her partner.

* * *

Stormy Weather was beginning her exit of the park.

“Hey, Ice Queen, what’s with all the terrorizing?” Someone taunted. She glared towards the source: Chat Noir, sitting on top of a nearby fence. He grinned at her. “Why don’t you pick on someone your own temperature?”

“My name’s not ‘Ice Queen!’” She yelled indignantly. “It’s Stormy Weather!”

Chat Noir slid down the fence, still talking. “Look,” he said. “I’m _feline_ more generous than usual today, so cool down and we’ll call it quits, ‘kay?”

Stormy Weather responded by blasting a gust of wind his way, knocking him off the fence and a few streets away, where he just lay on the ground, annoyed.

Ladybug ran after him, offering her good hand once she was by his side. “I thought cats always landed on their feet,” she said.

Chat Noir took it and stood. “Thanks, My Ladybug, but I had it covered.” Chat Noir took Ladybug’s left hand once he was up and pressed a kiss to it. “A pleasure to see you, though,” he basically purred.

Although the kiss itself wasn’t necessarily unwelcome, (It’d become a common greeting once he discovered her… problem.) the flirting was enough to make Ladybug slightly uncomfortable. So she pulled said hand from his grasp.

“No time to play _Catsanova_ ,” she joked. “But you’re welcome.”

Stormy Weather then decided to make her appearance. “We’re going to have lightning storms,” she declared. “Right now!”

And with a blast to the sky, clouds rolled in and electricity crackled. Before the bolt could hit the two, Ladybug tackled Chat Noir out of the way, the lightning barely missing them, before coming to a stop with him on top of her.

He grinned, half-embarrassed, and she just turned his head, reminding him of the current situation. He stood up, offering Ladybug an arm, which she gladly took to help her stand. “You’ve just won yourself a catfight,” he hissed, and charged towards Stormy Weather, missing Ladybug yelling at him to stop.

Stormy Weather just grinned, calling a sheet of black ice to cover the road Chat was running on. With both his traction and balance gone, she then called a gust of wind, knocking both him and Ladybug back. Ladybug shot her yoyo to wrap around a nearby lamppost, keeping her from blowing away, and grabbed Chat Noir’s tail as he blew past. Then the wind disappeared and the two fell back to the ground.

Chat Noir got up again and hurried to assist Ladybug in standing up, glaring at Stormy Weather. “She should really stop taking advantage of you like this,” he growled. After a quick glance to make sure Ladybug was steady, he turned to where the villain was. “I got this, don’t worry.” And as he leapt forward, he was caught from behind. He looked back to see Ladybug holding his tail.

“Whoa, kitty,” she said. “You better think before you leap.”

She let go of his tail and he stumbled a bit before regaining his balance. “You got a plan?”

“Follow my lead,” she said, and started running, scaling the side of a nearby building and running alongside the outside wall. Chat Noir mirrored her actions, running across buildings on the other side of the street.

As they approached Stormy Weather, they leapt off, weapons ready, but she’d seen them, blowing another gust sending them and multiple cars several streets away. The two landed, Chat Noir reaching out to keep Ladybug on her feet after a short roll, and then they jumped separate ways as a car almost hit them.

Chat Noir dodged one car, then another, getting stuck in a collapsing v. Bad luck again. He dashed out from between the two cars, just in time, thankful for his literal cat-like reflexes before looking for his lady.

Ladybug was having a bit more of a workout, jumping over a car and sliding under another, keeping her right foot bent enough that with enough energy from her right arm, she could flip into a standing position. She did so and jumped against the side of a car, pushing off with her right arm and leg, and attempted to jump over one last car.

Attempted.

She wasn’t going to make it. She wasn’t strong enough. “Ladybug!” Chat Noir jumped up from behind her, grabbing her in his arms, having just enough momentum to make it over the moving car without a scratch. He landed, quickly setting Ladybug down, only for the two to notice a bus flying their way. Between Chat Noir’s bad luck and Ladybug’s disability, there was no way they’d be able to escape it.

But Ladybug decided to return the favor to Chat right then, pulling him close to her and spinning her yoyo in front of them like a shield as the bus came nearer. It worked just as planned. The yoyo cut through the glass window, allowing them inside the bus safely. She stopped spinning the yoyo and… dropped it on Chat’s head. Whoops.

* * *

At the frozen carousel, firefighters were working desperately to free the two inside while Alya worked hard to distract Manon.

“Lemonade, crunchy ice. Hit it once, hit it twice—Freeze!”

Manon pouted, crossing her arms. “No fair. You always win, Uni.” But before she could complain any more, a low rumble filled the space. “Wh-What’s that?”

It was icicles growing from the edges, closing in on the center. But Alya couldn’t tell Manon that. “It’s the big goblin king!” She said. “He ate too much and split his shirt! Hahaha!” And Manon ran away from her giggling.

Alya began to chase her, but both girls froze when the icicles grew larger. Alya bit her lip, grabbing the hem of her shirt desperately with one hand, and took Manon’s hand in the other. “W-Wanna hear a story?” She asked, guiding Manon into the relative safety of the carousel.

* * *

As Stormy escaped Ladybug and Chat Noir, the man’s voice filled her head again. Papillon. He gave her praise. She’d done it. She’d proven herself as the best weathergirl, the rightful winner. And now it was time to return the favor…

* * *

Ladybug pushed the emergency exit window open and Chat extended his baton so the two could climb out.

“Is it just me, or does she have a _stormy_ personality?” She asked.

“Or she didn’t get her license,” Chat offered.

As they ran down the street, a screen lit up, stopping the two heroes in their tracks. (And Chat grabbed Ladybug, who almost lost her balance again.)

“Hello, viewers,” Stormy Weather greeted. “Here’s the forecast.” The camera zoomed out to show her in front of a map. “Mother Nature had a change. Summer vacation is over!”

“Aw man, but I look great in a swimsuit!” Chat protested with a grin.

“Phew,” Ladybug replied. “Thanks to her, I won’t have to see that. But at least we know where she is.”

The two hurried to the station where Stormy Weather was, stopping in the lobby at the site of a cutout of Aurore.

“Look, Ladybug!” Chat said.

“It’s her! The akuma must be in her parasol.” And the two ran off in the direction where Stormy Weather was supposed to be.

They broke down the door (Well, Chat Noir, mostly. It wasn’t like Ladybug could do _much_ strength-wise) only to find the room empty.

“It was a recording,” Ladybug gasped, and the two turned back to the door, where Stormy Weather actually was, laughing. She blasted a bolt up above them, knocking some heavy lights toward Ladybug and Chat, who jumped out of the way. And then it caused the breaker to flip and all the lights went out.

Her handiwork complete, Stormy Weather laughed and ran off, leaving Chat Noir to watch.

“Frosty the Snowgirl’s getting away!” Chat Noir said just as Ladybug tried standing but almost immediately tripped over some unseen object. “Is that a damsel in distress I hear?”

Ladybug rolled her eyes, knowing full well that her partner would be able to see. “Well, some of us don’t have night vision. Or balance in gen—” Chat Noir grabbed her by the arm then, breaking off her train of thought. She yelped at the sudden touch and pull as Chat began leading her along. Quickly, Ladybug’s other arm shot out, trying to form counterbalance as she prayed her legs would work so she didn’t get dragged across the floor.

* * *

“And then,” Alya continued her story to an enraptured Manon, “the cyclops picked the princess up and said, ‘Look into my eye.’” Manon giggled. “And then she stuck a finger right in it! But before she left, she took a bite of the cursed potato and fell into a deep sleep.”

At that moment, the rumble sounded again, and Alya pulled Manon closer. “Hurry up, Ladybug,” she murmured.

* * *

Chat was doing a pretty good job. He led Ladybug through obstacle-free areas, would push open doors while calling to her that there was a door and to try not to get hit by it.

“Alright. Stairs,” he told her, glancing back to make sure she didn’t stumble. Once past the first few steps, he redirected his attention upwards, where Stormy Weather was.

“Uh, I think I can manage—”

“Duck!”

Ladybug hadn’t needed to. It was that moment she tripped on the last stair, sending her tumbling to the floor while a fire extinguisher whizzed over her head. Chat Noir grabbed her other arm, helping her up. “You okay?” He asked.

She nodded. “I’ll follow your lead on this one.” And they were off again, following Stormy Weather up the stairs, out a door, and to the rooftop.

Ladybug sighed in relief. At least she could actually see. But she couldn’t relax quite yet.

“You fell right into my trap!” Stormy Weather yelled triumphantly. “Cyclone!”

There was nothing the two could do as a vortex formed around the building.

“There’s no way out!” Stormy Weather taunted. “It’s over, fools!”

“We’re just—” Ladybug had moved to get in a battle stance, only to find her left arm trapped. She glanced at Chat, giving him an unamused expression. Why couldn’t she feel things better on her left side? She jerked her arm, freeing it from his grasp, almost hit herself in the face, but recovered and said, “We’re just getting started, Stormy!”

She called her Lucky Charm, and a bath towel fell from above. “A bath towel?” She asked incredulously. “What am I supposed to do with this?”

“Great, so we’re about to be destroyed,” Chat Noir cut in, “but at least we’ll be dry.”

Ladybug shook her head, wrapping the towel around her left arm securely. “Just hold your whiskers.”

Stormy Weather called down a hailstorm. Reacting fast, Chat Noir grabbed his baton with one hand, and Ladybug with the other, pulling her in front of him, and lengthening and beginning to spin the baton with the other, creating a makeshift shelter from the hail.

“So what’s the plan, Ladybug?” He asked. “I’m not sure how long I can keep this up.”

Ladybug set to work immediately, looking around, thinking. Like a jigsaw puzzle forming together, she first noticed a pipe near the ground. Then an air duct higher up. Then a crane behind the duct. Then the towel she was given. And finally, a large sign across the way. Perfect.

“See that sign over there?” She told Chat. “Take care of it.”

“On it,” he replied before calling Cataclysm.

“Hey, Coldilocks!” He taunted Stormy Weather. “Is that the best you can do?” And then he took off towards the sign. Stormy Weather launched lightning bolts at him, but he dodged them all and upon reaching the sign in question, touched the entirety of its base, rusting it so it began to collapse.

Stormy Weather quickly noticed, shooting a blast at it so she could fly through safely, but not before Ladybug threw her yoyo, catching Stormy’s ankle as the sign completely fell over, knocking over the air duct to reveal the large fan beneath it.

Ladybug set the rest of her plan into motion. She ran towards the pipe near the ground, sliding beneath it, and ran to the base of the crane. She leapt, catching herself on the base with her right arm and leg, and pushed with all her strength, leaping up to where the fan was. A quick one handed flip to make it the rest of the way to the fan, and then Ladybug removed the towel from her arm, spread it out, and caught the air the massive fan was blowing, causing her to rise.

At this moment, the string around Stormy Weather’s ankle caught, and, like a giant pulley, as Ladybug continued to rise, Stormy Weather was pulled down with a scream, right in reach of the crane. It knocked the parasol from her hands to fly right into Chat’s, who then threw the parasol to Ladybug. She let go of the towel, dropping down, and easily caught said parasol and broke it over her knee.

“No more evildoing for you, little akuma,” she said, preparing to catch the freed akuma in her yoyo. “I’m freeing you from evil!” She easily caught it. “Gotcha.”

And the akuma, now cleansed, was freed to fly into the sky. “Bye bye, little butterfly.” She called after it.

She then grabbed the towel, threw it in the air, and yelled, “Miraculous Ladybug!” at which point little ladybugs flew throughout the city, repairing all the damage and destruction Stormy Weather had caused.

* * *

Alya was finishing her story. “So after defeating the dragon with…” Alya trailed off as she noticed the ice dome melting. “…taekwondo… the princess kissed her prince charming and—”

“And they lived happily ever after?” Manon asked as Alya scooped her up and carried her off the carousel.

“Sure,” Alya said. “Until they had a dozen monkeys like you who drove them wild.” Manon giggled again, and Alya sighed. Thank god she’d managed to pull that off, she thought as she played with the hem of her shirt again.

* * *

And the akuma’s transformation was undone, leaving Aurore sitting there. “Huh?” She said, looking around. “What am I doing here?”

Ladybug and Chat Noir turned to each other. Another day saved, another victory. They fistbumped. “Bien Joué!”

* * *

The man, Papillon, was frustrated in his defeat. Everything was going so well! But there was nothing he could do but wait. Soon enough he’d get his revenge.

* * *

 

Marinette ran back to the park, panting. Unfortunately, to keep her identity safely hidden, she’d had to transform back to Marinette some distance away from the park. But as she arrived, she and Tikki noticed that Adrien’s photoshoot was back in full swing.

“Hey, look. They’re waiting for you,” Tikki said.

“You don’t think it’s too late?” Marinette asked her.

“C’mon Marinette, you saved Paris. Have some fun!”

Before Marinette could respond, she heard her name called and saw Manon running to her. Marinette dropped to a knee, and Manon ran into her arms.

“Marinette!” Manon said. “I know what your secret is!”

Marinette immediately went into panic mode. “Wh-What secret?” She stuttered.

“Ladybug’s your best friend!” Manon declared cheerfully. “That’s why you always know where the other’s gonna be!”

Marinette let out a sigh in relief, hugging Manon closer, before starting to lead her to where the photoshoot was.

“Can I have a lollipop?” Manon asked Marinette.

“No, Manon, I have something I need to do. Alya’ll watch you.” Alya nodded, taking Manon’s other hand.

With Manon in good hands, Marinette walked up to the photographer. “I’m here! I’m ready for the photoshoot!”

But the photographer looked right past her. “Wait! Who’s that… angel?” He asked, looking right at Manon, who giggled.

And so Marinette was left on the sidelines, watching Manon pose with Adrien, unknowingly living Marinette’s dream. Alya gave Marinette a pat on the shoulders sympathetically as they watched.

Oh well. After all, Marinette couldn’t deny that the two looked adorable


	3. Nighttime Chat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this takes place right after Origins, but there aren't any spoilers in it, I promise.

Ladybug hadn’t really been sure what she was doing when she transformed late at night and left her home. In her head, she’d reasoned that patrols would be a smart thing to start doing, just to make sure if someone got akumatized late at night, or if a crisis in general was happening, it could be handled.

It took her until she was a few rooftops away, out of sight from her home, that she remembered her poor balance was a thing and almost slipped off the side, barely managing to grab the edge of the roof.

Her thoughts went a mile a minute. What should she do? Drop and hope for minimal damage? Try and climb up but probably fall anyways?

Before she could make a plan, someone grabbed each wrist, saying, “Strange time to be _hanging_ around, don’t you think?”

Oh thank god. Chat Noir. If this were any other time, Ladybug would’ve groaned at the pun, but this time she just said, “Help me up. Please.”

The tone in her voice was enough to get Chat out of his joking mood and he pulled her up, not letting go of her until she was standing comfortably. “But really,” he said, “what were you doing dangling from a roof?”

“I was going to start a patrol. To make sure there weren’t akumas or anything. And I fell,” Ladybug sighed. “Poor balance strikes again.”

“Clumsy?”

“Sort of,” she replied. Normally she’d keep her disability kind of quiet, in fear of someone like Chloe using it against her, but since it was such a detriment to being Ladybug… “Atrophy, really.”

“Atrophy?”

“Just a disability.”

“You never mentioned a disability.” It wasn’t confrontational. Just curious.

“It never came up.”

“True.”

Ladybug sat down, and Chat did as well. “If it’s not a big deal,” he said, “what disability is it?”

“Semi parietal cerebral palsy. Weakens my left side, gives me really bad balance, makes me really tired really quickly, that sort of thing.”

“Your entire left side?” Chat Noir asked. It hadn’t been terribly noticeable. Yes, Ladybug really hadn’t used that hand, but since her weapon was one-handed, there wasn’t need to.

“Yes, but it mostly shows itself in my left hand, which has no fine movement control whatsoever.”

Chat Noir reached out as if to take her hand, then froze. “M-May I?” He asked.

The question startled Ladybug. It was a rare one; not that doctors or therapists would do any harm, but it was usually “I’m going to do this.” A heads-up, really. Chat Noir looked at her curiously as she processed all this and finally nodded, holding out her hand to bridge the gap between them.

Chat Noir took her hand, resting it against the palm of his left hand. “So there’s not much you can do with it?” He asked.

“Not really. It’s like…” Ladybug searched in her head for a good analogy. “Like most people’s hands, and my right one… They’re five separate dimmer switches. It can be off, or it can be on in different intensities.” She wiggled each finger on her right hand to demonstrate. Chat Noir nodded. “But with my left, it’s just one normal switch. Off or on.” She opened and closed her hand. “So I can grab things. But that’s basically it.”

He slowly, gently, took her finger in his hand and moved it experimentally. “It works pretty well,” he observed.

“Yeah, because you’re holding it.” Chat let go of said finger and it immediately curled back up against her palm. Ladybug looked away from him with a sigh. “I’m sorry you got me,” she said.

“What?”

“I’m sorry that of all the people that could’ve been chosen as your partner, it had to be one with limited dexterity and difficulty even walking, never mind climbing all over rooftops chasing akumas. I’m sorry… I’m sorry that you had to get a broken one.”

She wasn’t crying, but her breaths were shallow and she was clearly on the verge. “Ladybug?” Chat Noir murmured, trying to get her attention. “My Lady?” Still no response. So, with only one idea left, Chat Noir lifted her left hand and pressed a kiss to her palm.

That got her attention. Her head shot up and she stared at him with wide eyes. “Ch-Chat Noir?”

“Ladybug, listen,” he said, “I don’t know what your life is like. I don’t know your difficulties, I don’t know the stress that might come with it, but I know you’re not broken. And maybe the physical things you have to do as Ladybug are really hard. But there’s more to this than running around rooftops and punching people in the face. There’s the cleverness. Thinking up plans on the fly, deducing who an akuma is and where it’s located, it’s all you. It’s all your smarts. _You’re_ the only reason we won today.”

Ladybug opened her mouth as if to protest, but Chat Noir continued. “So let me do the hard work. I’ll chase after people and punch them in the face if I have to. I’ll watch your back and pick you up when you fall, and you can do the important parts and win the fight for us. If you’ll let me.”

Ladybug wasn’t really sure what to say. It was as if that jokester from just a few hours ago was gone. She’d never felt so much acceptance so fast. She couldn’t help the huge smile forming on her face as she hugged her partner. “Thank you,” she whispered.

He returned the hug with a squeeze before letting go. “Anything to see my Lady smile,” he replied. “So,” he said. “Shall I join you on your patrol?”

Ladybug’s smile wavered for a moment. “I don’t…”

“Hey, it’s okay. I won’t let you fall. But it’s okay if you don’t want to. I can do it myself if you’re not comfortable.” Chat Noir held out a hand, smile encouraging.

Ladybug took a breath. He believed in her. He trusted her. Her decision made, she slipped her left hand into his, and together, they took off into the night.

She didn’t stumble once.


End file.
